Wood distilling and preserving apparatus.



N9. 826,407J PATEN-TED JULY 17 P. s. DAVIS. WOOD DISTILLING ANDPRESBRVING APPARA TUS.

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q/Vi Weoaea PATENTED JULY 1 F. S. DAVIS. 'WOOD DISTILLING AND PRESERVINGAPPAR ATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23,1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 nuenfoz F. S. DAVIS.

WOOD DISTILLING AND PRESERVING APPARATUS.

1 APPLICATION FILED 0011.23, 1905.

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PATENTED JULY 17, 1906.

No. 826,407. PATENTED JULY 17, 1906.

P. S. DAVIS. WOOD DISTILLING AND PRESERVING APPAR ATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OGI.Z3. 1905. Q

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

@vwa wkoz $15. IG/ Q 614107416135 v UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

FRED SMITH DAVIS; OF MULLIGAN, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOJAMES OLARENOE'RIOHARDSON, OF ROBERTSVILLE,

SOUTH CAROLINA.

-WOO,D DISTILLING AND PRESERVING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 17, 1906.

Application filed October 23, 1905. Serial No. 284,040.

To all who???) it may concern:

. citizen of the United States, residing at Mulligan, in the county ofHampton and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Wood Distilling .and'Preserving Apparatus; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as wvill enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an apparatus for use in the partial distillationof wood by aprocess which does not destroy the material acted upon, butpreserves it from injury and leaves it after the turpentine and otherlight oils have beenrecovered in condition for use in other relations,this application being an improvement upon my former patent, No.774,649,.dated November 8, 1904.

Further objects of my invention are to pro vide an apparatus havingnovel and advantageous heat-distributing means and an arrangement ofretorts and other parts of the apparatus conducive to economy of fueland heat, as well as time and labor.

With these objects in view my invention consists of the construction andcombination of parts, as hereinafter described andclaimed;

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a plan view, partly insection, showing the-a paratus and sections of track leading into t eretorts; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, one of the retortsbeing removed. F 3 is a cross-section through the retorts, showing thefurnace in full lines. Fig. 4 is a bottom planview, on an enlargedscale, of the centrifugal pump-runner and Fig. 5 is 'a cross-section, onan enlarged scale, of the tank, showing the'centrifugal pump in positiontherein.

Briefly, the apparatus includes an arrangement of retorts which arefirst charged with the wood to be treated and then filled with a heatedfluid, which fluid extracts the turpentine and other light volatile oilswithout injuring in the slightest degree the texture of the wood itself,the heat being kept entirely too low to permit of any destructivedistillation. In order to maintain the heat in any one of the retorts atthe required degree, provision is made for forcibly circulating thepreserving fluid through a reheater and back again through the retort,this method being preferable in my opinion to the application of heatdirectly to the retort itself. These re torts are preferablyarranged inpairs and provided with connections so arranged that one retort may becleaned and recharged while the other is being operated, thus effectinga great saving in time and obviating the need of repumping to and fromthe main source of supply of the distilling and preserving fluid for'each charge. 'In connection with the retorts there are used a furnaceand tank for initially reducing the preserving and distilling fluid to aliquid form and a-pump for delivering said fluid from said tank toeither or both of a pair of retorts, although. it is obvious that morethan two retorts could be used, if desired. A pump' of any approveddesign, but preferably a rotar; pump, and a reheater are also used, saidpump, reheater, and pair of retorts being connected by pipe linessuitably valved, so that the distilling and preserving fluid may becirculated through the pump, heater, and either retort, as desired. Fromeach retort leading back into the tank is a valved discharge-pipe, so.

that the preserving fluid may be allowed to run back into the tank whenthe material in the retort has been fully treated or when for any reasonit is desired to shut downas at the end of the week, for example. Eachretort is provided with one or more condensinghoods, two beingpreferably used for each retort for receiving the gases given off, andsuitable pipes lead from said hoods to a condenser of approved type,whichhas avacuumpump arranged at its outlet, so that air may be pumpedthrough the a paratus and the condensation thereby aided I have found byexperiment that excellent results have been obtained by using. meltedrosin as the distilling and preserving fluid, and in the followingdescription such fluid will be referred to as rosin but the process isnot limited to this especial plreservative, as tar, pitch, creosote, orany ot known preservatives for wood may also be advantageously used, andthe apparatus is efiually well adapted to the use of any of t em.

er of the well- IOO Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 represent a pairof retorts which are preferably of structed of any desired material, andI have found in practice that a construction lined with sheet-iron givesvery good results. The air-space between the walls of the retort ispreferably connected with the outer airby means .of the small holes 4,-through which sand is cured for the purpose of sealing up any crac {Sthat may occur in the retort-walls. These air-holes and spaces are shownat in Fig. 3, 46 representing the sand.

Conveniently located with relation to the retorts and preferably withits top below the level of the floor of the retorts 1s a tank 6, used asa melting-tank for the rosin to-be pumped into the appai atus. The tankis mounted "belowthe level of the retorts, so that the melted rosin willflow back by gravity into the tank when the apparatus is shut down. Thetank is suitably mounted within a furnace 7 of any desired constructionro-- vided with a stack 8. The tank 6 shoul be of such a sizecthat itwill hold enough rosin to entirely submerge a loaded truck in one of theretorts. V

Within the tank 6 is mounted a centrifugal pump 9, which may be drivenby means of a pulley 10, mounted on a shaft 11, projecting down'throughthe top of the furnace. This pump delivers into a pipe 12, which hasbranches 13 and 14 delivering into the retorts 1 and 2, said branchesbeing provided with valves 15 and16.

In Fig. 5 is shown the tank and centrifugal pump on an enlarged scale,and in Fig. 4 is shown the bottom of the preferred form of pump-runner.The shaft 11 is supported by a step 46, bolted or otherwise secured tothe bottom of the tank. A pump-casing 47 is secured, by means of braces48, to the walls of the tank. The referred form of centrifugal pumpwhich use consists of a disk 49, with a recess in its edge fitting. acorrespondin rib in the casing 47, said disk being provide on the underside with curved wings 51 and on the upper side with curved wings 52,arranged, however, in the o posite direction. The disk 49 is perforateas shown at g 53, for thepassage of the melted rosin up therethrough. Itis obvious that when the shaft 11 is revolved the win s 51 will forcethe melted rosin up throug the holes 53 and that the wings 52 Willforceit out through the pump-casing-into the ipe 12.

From the construction s own it is obvious I i that a constantcirculation and stirring action takes place at or near the bottom of thetank, thus preventing sedimentary deposits and keeping the entire messof liquid in the tank thoroughly stirred up. This pump therefore has adouble functionnamely, it forces the melted material into the retortsand it keeps the material in the tank thoroughly stirred up. Anotheradvantage of this form of pump located within the tank itself and tank6, said pipes being provided with valves 19 and these pipes being usedwhen it is desired to shut down the apparatus.

Located between the retorts is a pum 20 of any suitable design which isconnecte by means of pipes 21 and 22, with the retorts 2 and 1, thesepipes being provided with valves 43 and 44, respectively. The pump 20may be of any suitable design; but I found a rotary pump to besatisfactory in use. Connected to the pump 20 is a pipe 23, which assesinto a reheater 24, located withina furnace 25. The reheater 24 isprovided with a discharge-pipe 26, which is connected with branch pipes27 and 28 with the retorts 1 and 2, these plpes being provided withvalves 29 and 30. Provision is made for the reception of thermometers 31in the pipes 21, 22, 27

The purpose of these connections is that the rosin may be pumped throughone or both of the retorts passing on its way and 28.

cated in a tank of water or other cooling material 37. The condensercoil delivers its products into any suitable receptacle,.such as abarrel 38, on which is mounted a vacuumpump 39, driven by a pulley 40from any suitable source of power. The collectingre ceptacle 38 isrovided with an outlet 42, which in turn 1s provided with a seal, as iscustomary. The pump 39 should not be of sufiicient power to lift thecondensed'products or to draw the gases through the condensing-coilbefore they are condensed.

The operation of my device is as follows: A truck loaded with wood ispushed into one of the retortssay the retort 1and the door 41 thereofclosed and sealed, a fire having been previously started in thefurnace'Z. Melted rosin is then pumped through the pipes 12 and 13 intothe retort 1 until the charge of wood has been completely sub merged,the valve -'19 in the pipe 17 having first been closed. After the fullcharge of rosin has been pumped into the retort 1- the 3 A 'tort 1 intoretort 2, and after the full charge 1 valves 44, and 30 are'closedpthevalves. 43 and 29 openedflgtnd the pump 2Q set in operation, thereheater 24' havingfirst fbeen the retort. into the'lpump and-throughthe reheater 24' back into'the r'etort 1, thus, maintaining the-[char e'.of rosin at the desired temperature wit out directly heating the retort1, the chargejofrosin being kept at the pro er temperature by themanipulation of thee in the furnace 25,the tem'perature being observed;by means of the thermom- --eters 31. The hot rosin drives'ofi the gasesfrom the wood, which) gases rise into the cones 32 and 33 and then pass,into the. con- I densing-coil, the fvolatile products being collected inthe" receptacle 38. The tem erature is regulated carefully, so that-the.ber of the wood is not injured, being kept below the point; wheredestructive distillation be I All the lightiproductsfincluding theturpentine, rosin, an I other light oils, are eX-. tracted from thewood, leaving it unharmed.

While this operation is going on in'retort 1, retort 2.' has beencharged with wood. As soon as the operation is finished in retort 1 thevalve 29 is-iclosed and the' valve. opened; The pump 20 being keptinoperation, the charge .OfIO'SiD. is pumped from rehas been pumpedoverfthe valve 43 is shut and the valve'44 opened, the circulation ofthe hot rosin throughthe pump 20 and reheater 24 being the same asalready de scribed. lhe rosin is never run back into the tank 6exceptfor the purpose of a shutdown, and the operation is thereforepracti cally continuous. I

While I have thus described my invention,

I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not limit myselfto theexact details'shown and described; but I What I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent,,is v

1: Inan apparatus ofthe" character described, the combination. of aretort for the "reception of the material to be treated, afu'r-' naceand tank for melting the material used as a distilling fluid, acentrifugal pump located at or near the bottom of said tank, said pumpserving to discharge the melted fluid into the retort and also to keepthe fluid 'in f the tank thoroughly agitated, a valved pipe connectingsaid pump with said retort, and a valved discharge pipe connecti'n saidretort with said tank, substantiall as described.

2.. In an apparatus of t e character described, the combination'of aretort for the reception of the material to be treated, a furnace andtank for melting down the material used as'a distillin fluid, acentrifugal pump. located nearthe ottomof said tank, said pump servingnot only to discharge the melted fluid from said tank to said retort,but also to keep the material in said tankthoroughl agitated, supply andreturn connections etween said pump and said retort and said retort andsaid tank, and means for maintaining the charge of distilling fluid insaid retort at an even temperature, said means including a pump, areheater, and

-. pipe connections between said retort, pump and reheater,substantially as described.

3. In "an apparatus of the character described, the combination of abattery of re torts, 'a suitable furnace and tank for melting down thematerial used as a distilling fluid, a

centrifugal pump in said tank located at or a valved pipe connected withsaid fgmp'and rovided with branches, one of sai ranches eading'to' oneof said retorts respectively, a valved return-pipe leading from each ofsaid retorts respectively to said tank, and means for maintaining thecharge of melted fluid in either of said retorts at a constanttemperature, consisting of a pump and reheater,

branched pipe leading from saidand valved pipes connecting said retortswith said pump and said reheater respectively,

substantially as described.-

' In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

- FRED SMITH DAVIS.

Witnesses: I W J. O. RrcHZARDsoN, R. W. -DAVIS.

